Corvette Stingray Convertible comes to the Cleveland Auto Show

When the Cleveland Auto Show opens its doors to the pubic at the I-X Center at 11 a.m. today, there will be two vehicles on the floor that have a special connection with the city of Cleveland. The new 2014 Corvette Stingray and the Corvette Stingray Convertible were both designed by automotive design graduates from the Cleveland Institute of Art. The 2014 Corvette Stingray is also the North American Car of the Year. Tim Arbutina, sales and leasing manager and a product specialist at the new Ganley Chevrolet on Brookpark Road, spent hours on the track with the new Corvette at the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School in Nevada, pushing it to speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour. “It’s simply an incredible vehicle in terms of its power,” says Arbutina. “We drove it against its competition, which is a lot more expensive. I came away speechless. The design of both the coupe and convertible is a design that speaks to you. To get on the track and hear the engine speak to you takes it to a whole new level.”The new Corvette Stingray does have incredible curb appeal, and should offer some excellent eye candy for those attending the show today. The vehicle was designed by Cleveland Institute of Art graduates Kirk Bennion and Jose Gonzalez. Bennion is the exterior design manager for the Corvette, while Gonzalaz is the lead designer for Corvette Convertible.The 2014 Corvette Stingray is the most powerful standard Corvette model ever, with an SAE-certified 455 horsepower and 460 lb.-ft. of torque. If you opt for an available performance exhaust system, those numbers increase to 460 horsepower and 465 lb.-ft. of torque.It is also the most capable standard Corvette ever, with Z51-equipped models able to accelerate from zero-60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds, run the quarter-mile in 12 seconds at 119 miles per hour, achieve 1.03g in cornering grip and stop from 60 miles per hour in 107 feet.The new Corvette Stingray backs its performance capability with the greatest efficiency of any sports car on the market, delivering an EPA-estimated 17 miles per gallon in city driving and 29 miles per gallon on the highway with the all-new seven-speed manual transmission. No other car offers more than 455 horsepower and greater than 29 miles per gallon on the highway.“There is also an available automatic transmission,” says Arbutina. “It features the performance shift algorithm that is programmed to respond to driver input the way a racecar driver would do in terms of downshifts and rev matching.”The coupe and the convertible share identical chassis tuning and performance technologies. They also share nearlyidentical curb weights, as the only structural changes for the convertible model are limited to accommodations for the folding top and repositioned safety belt mounts.“The Corvette was designed to be an open-topped car, so the roof actually contributes very little to overall torsional rigidity,” says Arbutina. “It really doesn’t need the roof. The all new aluminum frame is actually 57 percent stronger. So the car is solid and rigid with or without a top. It is also equipped with the latest technology.”At the core of the Corvette Stingray’s driver-focused technologies is the cockpit-mounted Driver Mode Selector, which allows drivers to optimize the car for their driving preference and road conditions via five settings: Weather, Eco, Tour, Sport and Track.“The all new Corvette Stingray is really three cars in one: It provides the comfort and functionality of a long-distance GT car, the connectedness and infotainment of a daily driver and the acceleration, grip and braking of a capable track car,” says Harlan Charles, product manager. “With the Driver Mode Selector, we wanted to give drivers an easy way to tailor virtually every aspect of the car to fit their driving environment. The result is a more rewarding, more confident experience, whether you’re commuting in a downpour or charging through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca.”You can see the new Corvette Stingray Coupe or Convertible at the Cleveland Auto Show today.

PROS• It is the most powerful and capable Corvette ever built, offering a 6.2-lilter V8 that develops 455 horsepower.• Despite its power, it actually gets 29 miles per gallon on the highway.• It offers a Driver Mode selector to allow you to customize performance for driving preference or road conditions.• The convertible is just as rigid and solid as the coupe.CONS• With a sticker north of $56,000, it’s not in everyone’s price range, although it’s much less expensive than its competition.• Driving a vehicle with this much power tied to a manual transmission, takes some experience.

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